As a UHF television station it was at a severe competitive disadvantage to the VHF station—WALA-TV—which started up in Mobile at the same time causing WKAB-TV to lose money and eventually fold.
[4] WALA, however, became bogged down in delays, and WKAB-TV became the fifth operating UHF television station and 15th new outlet to sign on after the end of the lifting of the 1948 TV freeze when it began telecasting on December 29, 1952.
At the time, it was announced that there were plans to return the station to air when microwave service for network programming was available.
That prospective owner was George Mayoral, who owned UHF television station WJMR-TV in New Orleans.
In May 1955, Mayoral announced that he was considering the purchase of the WKAB-TV facility and was in arrangements to buy silent Houston UHF outlet KNUZ-TV, with plans to operate the trio as a network specializing in Hispanic and African American programming.